World Pool Grows 35% at Royal Ascot
There is no disputing just how popular the Royal Ascot has become in recent years. The numbers don't lie. The five-day Royal meeting this year took in a record £168 million bet into the World Pool. It also resulted in the biggest World Pool ever on a British race with £6.6 million wagered on the Coronation Stakes.
Gross Turnover for World Pool bets increased 35% on 2021’s figure of £123.9 million.
UK Tote Group chief executive Alex Frost made the bold prediction early last week: "After record volumes on the Oaks and Derby, we're looking forward to a really exciting five days of World Pool at Royal Ascot. With seven bet types available this year and greater awareness of the unique value World Pool is offering racing fans, we are expecting to beat previous years' volumes."
The three biggest pools of the week included the Coronation Stakes as well as the Platinum Jubilee Stakes on Saturday (£6.4 million) and the Gold Cup on Thursday (£6.1 million). The Coronation Stakes now overtakes the Cazoo Derby as the biggest British World Pool race to date.
Some 273,465 racegoers attended the event with millions more eyes across the globe.
As a collaboration of global Totes, World Pool allows gamblers from all over the world to bet into a single pool, which results in huge liquidity and great betting value.
“We’re excited that in its fourth year at Royal Ascot World Pool continues to prove increasingly popular with our customers," Frost said following the record setting event. "The huge pools, combined with our Tote Guarantee and extra 10% available online with Tote+, has ensured the Tote has provided exceptional value across the week in the Win and Exotic markets.
Alex Frost (Pictured)
"After significant work with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, where we took on board extensive customer feedback, racing fans in the UK and Ireland are betting into a Win market with an average overround of 106% compared to 126% with the industry Starting Price, making it clear that anyone looking for value should be betting with the Tote and adding to World Pool’s momentum."
Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “Royal Ascot once again produced exceptional racing which was reflected in numerous World Pool turnover records. It is clear that international racing fans have embraced the quality and depth of fields across the five days. On the occasion of Guy Henderson’s final Royal meeting as Chief Executive of Ascot Racecourse, I would like to pay tribute to his leadership over the past eight years, and in particular his work to help launch and develop World Pool with the Hong Kong Jockey Club and UK Tote back in 2019. Together we have successfully demonstrated the benefits of international cooperation and commingling with increasing buy-in from major stakeholders. This has resulted in improvements to planning and programming right across the 2022 World Pool schedule with a more attractive wagering product resulting in higher returns to the UK racing industry.”
Guy Henderson, Chief Executive at Ascot Racecourse, said: “It has been another hugely successful week for World Pool at Royal Ascot and we are thrilled with the level of turnover both on course as we welcomed back a full scale crowd and remotely. I must say a huge thank you to all our colleagues at the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the UK Tote for their continued hard work in ensuring that everything runs smoothly through the week. In my time at Ascot, the World Pool has been one of the most innovative initiatives we have been involved in and these new partnerships have proved hugely beneficial to racing at Ascot and the wider industry."
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
